I grew up in a musical family. As a child I can remember weekends or events
listening to my family perform. I also remember being awakened by these old
flamenco albums my Dad would crank up early morning on weekends. I would
think to myself how could anyone listen to this stuff. I liked the guitar
but couldn’t stand the singing. My father would laugh and tell me that one
day I would learn to like flamenco singing. I thought he was crazy but in
the end Dad was right. Not only do I like flamenco singing but it is my
favorite part of flamenco. Don’t get me wrong, I love dance and solo. It’s
just the singing really moves me. My grandfather, who was born outside
Granada in a little town called Pinos Puentes, passed the guitar down to his
two sons who in turn passed it down to me. My father played professionally
in the fifties doing studio work with Fantasy records and live performances.

At the age of seven, I received my first guitar. I played on and off until I
was about twelve when I decided to play seriously. At the age of twelve, I
began practicing four hours a day. My first guitar teacher was my Dad who
showed me how to play various styles of music including flamenco, blues and
a little rock. After about a year, I studied for two years with former
guitarist for Johny lee Hooker, John Garcia.

From age 12 to 18 I played in many rock bands performing at parties,
weddings and high schools. At age 18, I became a very serious musician and
soon after started a modern jazz band for about three years. Also at 18, I
came to Gavilan and studied music theory, music history, classical guitar
and music ensemble. At 18, I also started guitar lessons with legendary
Spanish guitarist Mariano Cordoba. Mariano is a master flamenco guitarist
internationally known and mainly responsible for bringing flamenco to the
bay area. During this time from 18 to 21, I played a lot of rock and
flamenco. I also had a chance to do some studio work. I recorded some
commercials and did some session work for local bands. I also concertized
quite a bit performing at the Flamenco Society, Classical guitar society,
Music teacher association of California and many private events. After
studying with Mariano, I briefly studied with well-known guitarist Guillermo
Rios before moving to Spain in 1988.

At age 21 I moved abroad to study in Spain
with the great masters of today. While in Spain, I practiced on average 8 to
12 hours a day. I got the opportunity to study with the guitarist Chicuelo
who is considered to be one of the top young flamenco guitarists in Spain.
Chicuelo wowed me with his technique. When I first started taking lessons
with him I would try to impress him with classical music. Every song I
played, he played. The next week I would challenge him to improvise over
changes thinking flamenco guitar players didn’t know how to improvise. I was
wrong again. Finally I admitted defeat and learned as much as I could from
him. Still to this day when I see him, we jam and he gives me great advice.
The one thing I never understood until later is why he wouldn’t let the
fingers fly on his recordings. I thought to myself that if this guy had all
these chops in the world, why not show them and his response was simple, He
wanted to make music and not play notes. One day he said something that has
always stuck with me: “Hay gente que habla mucho pero no
dice nada”. Later, I found that to be so true especially with
flamencos outside of Spain. There are guitarists that simply overplay. The
music is so busy that it is boring. “They talk a lot and say nothing.”

During my time in Spain I went to Madrid to study with the late Rafael
Nogales. Rafael was the instructor of Mariano Cordoba and was considered to
be one of the last great masters of the traditional school of flamenco.While
in Spain, I performed at some small events and one show which has been one
of my most fondess memories. It was a concert with my instructor Mariano
Cordoba in Guadalajara, Spain. An event I will cherish for the rest of my
life.

Upon returning from Spain, I continued with yet another master flamenco
guitarist, Juan Serrano. Juan taught at CSU Fresno. While At CSU Fresno,
Juan and I would jam for hours. In 1991 I
competed for the first time in the Fresno guitar Society
competition and won first prize. Months later I entered the Central Valley
Charlie Daniel guitar competition. I took second place.

Following these competitions I was invited to perform throughout the United
States. I performed at the Northern California Flamenco Society, the Pena
Cultural Center in Berkeley, as a featured guitarist in the Fresno guitar
panorama series and did some live radio performances. In addition to
performing solo, I had a Flamenco Jazz fusion band, and I also accompanied
some dance classes of local teachers.

Unfortunately music came to a screeching halt in 1992. During grad school, I
noticed tingling in my pinkie finger and within a month my hand felt like it
was going to fall off. I had done some serious nerve damage to my left hand.
Fifteen doctors and two surgeries later, my hand has never healed. I quit
playing for about five years and then one day picked up the guitar and
started playing it. To my surprise the pain wasn’t that bad. I met with some
doctors and they said when there is no pain I could play. That is what I do.
There are good days and bad days now. Unfortunately I don’t think I will
ever play at the level I used to play. To be the very best, one must
practice on a consistent basis, something my hand does not allow for me to
do. But I am okay with that because I can play more now than I have in the
last ten years.